Natsume Sonoko had politely turned down Konori-senpai, and the weight of letting everyone down left her with a strange, nagging guilt. Still, at least one more troublesome matter was finally off her plate.
At the very least, she wouldn't have to run laps under the blazing sun while someone barked orders at her. Thinking about it that way, her mood lifted again.
What did bother her a little, though, was how—seemingly overnight—so many people already knew she was the rumored Eighth.
It had only been a few days!
Guess who the prime suspect was? A certain teleporter was basically confirmed—and the others had just said as much.
The thought of being watched by others from time to time made Natsume uneasy. She simply wasn't as carefree or bold as Misaka-senpai.
This wasn't like receiving praise; fame was a real headache for her. Maybe she'd get used to it eventually—she hoped.
"Five hundred suspects… even that little brat Conan wouldn't be able to crack this case. Ugh, so frustrating."
She stopped abruptly in the middle of the bustling street, her thoughts circling back to the attack targeting her. But for now, she had no choice but to shove it aside.
First, she needed to pass the Level 5 evaluation—then maybe she'd get lucky.
With a sharp stomp, she crushed an abandoned soda can underfoot and aimed a kick toward a nearby trash bin.
Plop.
The can arced perfectly into the bin. Apparently, even silly little games like this could lift your spirits.
"Is your hair naturally like that? Misaka Misaka asks."
"Huh? What's with that question all of a sudden, you little runt? Wait—didn't a soda can just fly into the trash bin by itself?"
"What soda can? Misaka Misaka is confused."
A white-haired boy in a black-and-white patterned shirt approached, holding a restaurant flyer. His lips were pressed into a thin line, clearly annoyed.
About a meter behind him stood a small girl wrapped in a thin gray cloth.
Natsume recognized the boy instantly—and even the girl's face looked oddly familiar, maybe thirty or forty percent like someone she knew.
Though Natsume stood half-hidden in the sunlight, her whole body tensed like she'd just stepped into a minefield.
According to the plan she'd made long ago, the right move now was to pretend she hadn't seen them and just walk past.
She absolutely did not want to interact with him. He was far too dangerous—especially now that her "body heat tactics" had already been exposed.
To prepare for any future threats, Reiko had pushed the Wing Formula to its current limits, ensuring Natsume could rely on her speed advantage.
Just as Natsume was about to slip away, her eyes caught the little girl beside him.
A pint-sized Misaka-senpai?
The more she looked, the more certain she became. She'd seen childhood photos of Misaka-senpai back in Dorm 208—this girl looked almost identical.
Could she be another clone?
It was very possible. Natsume had just never seen a clone modeled after Misaka-senpai's younger self before.
What really made her angry, though, was how the girl was wrapped in nothing but that flimsy gray cloth.
"What's that guy planning to do to the Sisters now?!"
Natsume held a stubbornly negative view of Accelerator.
Seeing what looked like a "Sister" made her freeze mid-step, her face flushing with sudden anger.
But just as she started overthinking things, her expression shifted to one of mild shock—something puzzling had caught her eye.
In the blink of an eye, Accelerator and the little Misaka walked right past her and disappeared into a nearby family restaurant.
She'd been to that place a few times herself—the curry was pretty good, and the prices were reasonable. The memory surfaced out of nowhere.
A waitress in a maid outfit greeted them with a practiced smile, bowing slightly before leading them to a table and cheerfully handing over a menu.
Natsume stood by the restaurant window, utterly baffled by the scene inside.
Just like any ordinary customer, the two were ordering food. Accelerator passed the menu to the little Misaka across from him, then sat there, lost in thought.
Natsume remembered hearing he'd voluntarily withdrawn from the experiment. Now she really couldn't figure out what this white-haired guy was up to.
Such a drastic shift in behavior left her completely stumped.
"What do you want to eat?"
"Pizza, hamburgers, spaghetti… oh, the curry looks good too! But in the end, I'll go with the steak set meal with rice. Misaka is having trouble deciding."
They sat by the window, chatting quietly.
Natsume watched through the glass for several minutes. Though Accelerator occasionally glanced outside, he never spotted her.
By now, as long as she stayed grounded, only that Dark Side member—Takitsubo—had ever managed to detect her.
After lingering outside for a while, Natsume still couldn't shake her unease about this unusual Sister.
But then things took another turn. Before they'd even finished eating, Accelerator paid the bill and left—leaving the little Misaka alone at the table.
Worse still, the girl slumped over the seat, looking utterly drained.
"Welcome!"
"Hi. This child belongs to a friend of mine—I've come to take her home."
Back in her normal state, Natsume pointed to the girl dozing on the table, her expression serious.
"Really? That's a huge relief! Someone just paid and left her here—we didn't know what to do." The waitress sounded almost plaintive.
"And she seems unwell… She's been lying there like that for minutes." Genuine worry colored her voice.
"I see."
Natsume nodded. She'd noticed the same thing the moment she walked in.
Concerned something might happen to the Sister, she'd decided to step in and take her away.
Twenty minutes after Natsume left, Accelerator returned to the restaurant.
He'd originally planned to ditch the kid and be done with it—but somehow, he'd wandered all the way to the lab.
Without even realizing it, he'd asked about her condition. Turns out, she'd been removed from her growth tank too early, causing cellular collapse—and someone had implanted a virus in her too.
"You're saying a girl in a Tokiwadai uniform took her?"
"Yes."
"Can I see your security footage?" Accelerator's tone was sharp.
Stepping out of the restaurant, he pulled out his phone. "Yoshikawa, that brat's been picked up. And the person who took her… it's unexpected."
--+--
Leaving the family restaurant, Natsume carried the pint-sized Misaka on her back, heading straight for Misaka's apartment.
But something felt off. At first, she'd assumed the girl was just sleepy—but it was clearly more serious than that.
"Little Misaka, are you okay?"
She set the girl down on a street-side bench, flustered. Whatever was wrong with her was bad—really bad.
"All this time… thank you for your kindness. Misaka Misaka speaks weakly."
Her voice was strained, her breathing shallow. She forced one eye open.
"What's wrong with you?" Natsume asked, panic edging into her voice.
"Misaka Misaka's body… is incomplete. She shouldn't have left the tank." A tired sigh escaped her. "Things were manageable at first… but now she can't sustain basic bodily functions. Misaka Misaka …"
"I get it—I'm taking you to the hospital right now."
Natsume sprang into action—but then froze, her head snapping toward a spot down the street.
A gunshot cracked through the air.
But the instant the bullet left the barrel, it erupted into a brilliant fireball, burning out three meters short of Natsume.
A middle-aged man in a white lab coat stood nearby, smoke curling from the barrel of his pistol.
"Even if you're an esper, how many bullets can you stop? Hand over the child." His voice was cold, venomous. He cocked the gun again.
Natsume had spotted that sneaky bastard the moment she left the restaurant—he'd been tailing her the whole time.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.